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Synopsis

For two nights only, catch an exclusive presentation of The Oscar-Nominated Short Films 2018, just weeks before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announces its winners. For the 13th straight year, Magnolia Pictures and ShortsHD to continue its tradition of bringing the world’s best short-form cinema to the Central Valley. The two evenings will feature three full programs of Academy Award-nominated short movies.

“The Eleven O’Clock” – The delusional patient of a psychiatrist believes he is actually the psychiatrist. As they each attempt to treat each other the session gets out of control. Directed by Derin Seale. Australia, 13 minutes.

“The Silent Child” – “The Silent Child” centers around a profoundly deaf four year old girl named Libby who is born into a middle class family and lives in a world of silence until a caring social worker teaches her the gift of communication. Directed by Chris Overton. UK, 20 minutes.

“Watu Wote/All of Us” – For almost a decade Kenya has been targeted by terrorist attacks of the Al-Shabaab. An atmosphere of anxiety and mistrust between Muslims and Christians is growing. Until in December 2015, muslim bus passengers showed that solidarity can prevail. Directed by Katja Benrath. Germany/Kenya, 23 minutes.

“Dear Basketball” – Basketball great Kobe Bryant collaborated with visionary animator Glen Keane and legendary composer John Williams on an animated short film that explores what it means to achieve your dream, and then leave it behind. The animated film is an adaptation of Bryant’s NBA retirement announcement after 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers. Narrated by Bryant, the film’s hand-drawn animation and emotional score will touch fans of all ages with its universal message about love and loss. Directed by Glen Keane. USA, 5 minutes.

“Edith+Eddie” – Edith and Eddie, ages 96 and 95, are America’s oldest interracial newlyweds. Their love story is disrupted by a family feud that threatens to tear the couple apart. Directed by Laura Checkoway. USA, 29 minutes.

“Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405” – This is a portrait of a brilliant 56 year old artist who is represented by one of Los Angeles’ top galleries. Her body of raw, emotional work reveals a lifetime of depression and mental disorder. Mindy Alper has suffered through electro shock therapy, multiple commitments to mental institutions and a 10-year period without speech. Her only consistent means of communicating has been to channel her hyper self-awareness into drawings and sculpture of powerful psychological clarity that eloquently express her emotional state. Through an examination of her work, interviews, reenactments, the building of an eight and a half foot papier-mache’ bust of her beloved psychiatrist, we learn how she has emerged from a life of darkness and isolation to a life that includes love, trust and support. Directed by Frank Stiefel. USA, 40 minutes.

“Heroin(e)” – Once a bustling industrial town, Huntington, West Virginia has become the epicenter of America’s modern opioid epidemic, with an overdose rate 10 times the national average. This flood of heroin now threatens this Appalachian city with a cycle of generational addiction, lawlessness, and poverty. But within this distressed landscape, Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon (Hollow) shows a different side of the fight against drugs — one of hope. Sheldon highlights three women working to change the town’s narrative and break the devastating cycle of drug abuse one person at a time. Fire Chief Jan Rader spends the majority of her days reviving those who have overdosed; Judge Patricia Keller presides over drug court, handing down empathy along with orders; and Necia Freeman of Brown Bag Ministry feeds meals to the women selling their bodies for drugs. As America’s opioid crisis threatens to tear communities apart, the Netflix original short documentary “Heroin(e)” shows how the chain of compassion holds one town together. Directed by Elaine McMillion Sheldon. USA, 39 minutes.

“Knife Skills” – What does it take to build a world-class French restaurant? What if the staff is almost entirely men and women just out of prison? What if most have never cooked or served before, and have barely two months to learn their trade? “Knife Skills” follows the hectic launch of Edwins restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio. In this improbable setting, with its mouthwatering dishes and its arcane French vocabulary, we discover the challenges of men and women finding their way after their release. We come to know three trainees intimately, as well as the restaurant’s founder, who is also dogged by his past. They all have something to prove, and all struggle to launch new lives — an endeavor as pressured and perilous as the ambitious restaurant launch of which they are a part. Directed by Thomas Lennon. USA, 40 minutes.